Tri Ta

Tri Ta (born April 10, 1973) is a Vietnamese-born American politician currently serving as a member of the California State Assembly. He represents Assembly District 70, which consists of much of the Little Saigon area of northwestern Orange County. He previously served as Mayor of Westminster, California.

Tri Ta
Tạ Đức Trí
Member of the California State Assembly from the 70th district
Incumbent
Assumed office December 5, 2022
Preceded by	Patrick O'Donnell
Personal details
Born	(1973-04-10) April 10, 1973 (age 52) Saigon, South Vietnam (now Vietnam)
Political party	Republican

Early life and education

Ta was born in Saigon in Vietnam (now Ho Chi Minh City). In 1992, he and his parents immigrated to the United States as refugees. Ta was 19 at the time.^[1]

Political career

Ta served as a city councilor in Westminster before being elected mayor. He became mayor in 2012 and was the city's first Vietnamese-American mayor.^[1][2] Ta was reelected in 2018. He is a Republican and has advocated for the Republican Party to take a greater interest in Vietnamese voters. Vietnamese Americans traditionally voted Republicans, but Democrats have made gains recently, especially in Orange County.^[3]

In 2019, Ta attracted publicity for clashing with other members of Westminster's city council. He and fellow council members Kimberly Ho and Chi Charlie Nguyen frequently sparred with the remaining members. Notably, they passed a controversial resolution alleging that the Vietnamese government was improperly interfering in city politics.^[4] This dispute culminated in the three voting to change the council's procedures over the objections of other members.^[5] Opponents of the three councilors filed for a recall election in response.^[6] In April 2020, Ta and his allies survived the recall attempt.^[7]

In January 2022, Ta announced his intention to run for election to the California State Assembly in district 70, which was being vacated by incumbent Janet Nguyen.^[8] He placed second in the top-two primary in June and faced Garden Grove City Councilwoman Diedre Thu-Ha Nguyen in the November general election.^[9] That same year, a council dispute over renewing Westminster's sales tax placed the city at risk of bankruptcy.^[10][11] Ta was also censured for false statements he made about other councilors.^[12]

In November 2022, Ta won the election to represent the 70th district in the California State Assembly.^[13] He took office in December.

As a delegate for Trump, Ta has supported Donald Trump as U.S. President in the 2024 presidential election.^[14]

Electoral history

Westminster, California mayoral election, 2012

Candidate		Votes	%
Tri Ta		11,861	44.6%
Penny Loomer		7,677	28.8%
Al Hamade		4,885	18.4%
Ha Mach		1,191	4.5%
Tamara Sue Pennington		998	3.8%
Total votes		26,612	100.0

Westminster, California mayoral election, 2014

Candidate		Votes	%
Tri Ta		14,198	84.8%
Andy Truc Nguyen		2,540	15.2%
Total votes		16,738	100.0

Westminster, California mayoral election, 2016

Candidate		Votes	%
Tri Ta		16,094	56.4%
Margie L. Rice		9,220	32.3%
Raymond De La Cerda		2,004	7.0%
Visual William		1,232	4.3%
Total votes		28,550	100.0

Westminster, California mayoral election, 2018^[15]

Candidate		Votes	%
Tri Ta		18,344	72.7%
Christopher Ochoa		6,878	27.3%
Total votes		25,222	100.0

Westminster, California mayoral recall election, 2020

Choice	Votes	%
No	10,165	59.32
Yes	6,970	40.68
Total votes	17,135	100.00
Source: Orange County Registrar of Voters[16]

California's 70th State Assembly district primary election, 2022^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Diedre Thu-Ha Nguyen	31,159	39.7
	Republican	Tri Ta	16,608	21.2
	Republican	Ted Bui	10,922	13.9
	Republican	Kimberly Ho	10,874	13.9
	Republican	Emily Hibard	5,252	6.7
	Republican	Jason Gray	3,610	4.6
Total votes			78,425	100.0
General election
	Republican	Tri Ta	64,849	53.8
	Democratic	Diedre Thu-Ha Nguyen	55,661	46.2
	Republican hold
Total votes			120,510	100.0